On Wed, 27 Oct 2004 15:10:32 -0400, paghat wrote
Does half of America REALLY care
absolutely nothing for truth, fact, or reality, but will embrace any lie
fabricated by Bush campaigners & Swiftnuts, if that's all there is to
justify an unjustifiable decision to keep Bush?

paghat,

You might be interested in this column by David Brooks in the NY times
a few days ago:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/23/op...Top%2fOpinion%
2fEditorials%20and%20Op%2dEd%2fOp%2dEd%2fColumnist s%2fDavid%20Brooks

It should be free for a couple more days. I often find Brooks grasping
at straws, but I think this one is pretty good. It does provide a
possible explanation for the divide which doesn't depend on the
traditional factors (which as you point out don't seem to explain
much): "Republicans ... admire leaders who are straight-talking men of
faith. ... doesn't have to be book-smart, and probably shouldn't be ...
introspective. ... Democrats ... emphasize such skills as being
knowledgeable and thoughtful. The value leaders who can see
complexities, who possess the virtues of the well-educated".

I thought it was good.

Now, my neighborhood has, I'd guess, about 350 houses. I've walked or
biked most of the streets lately, and I've found five (5) with Bush
signs. Probably half the rest have Kerry signs. It's a neighborhood
that was mostly built up in the 1950s and 1960s, with most houses on
half-acre lots yet close to the center of town. Great place for
gardeners, except for the high incidence of highly invasive exotics.
Perhaps there's a correlation.

Edward